Welcome to all of my new group of Reading Recovery students and parents/guardians! I would just like to let you know a few things about the Reading Recovery Program! First of all: The program is designed to boost both the reading levels and performance of your child's reading level and abilities! This also includes their writing skills! It is a 30-minute intensive program, where there are two books read at first, then a third book in which a Running Record (which is a record of your child's reading, that is completed every day). Then we do a letter match, a comparison of two letters, in either the sounds or visual. Then we do what is known as Breaking Words Apart (BWA) in which I simply take a word, model it for your child by spelling, then saying the word, breaking it apart where the main sounds connect and put it back together. The child repeats this pattern and a concrete understanding of the word, spelling and chunking methods of that word is introduced. After that, your child will do their writing. They have their writing notebooks in which blank sheets of paper are used without lines, to help your child improve their writing skills without the distraction of a line. This also strengthens the hand coordination while they are writing. I then conduct a little Running Record on their story as they re-read it to me and then I write it out on a paper strip, cut it and have them re-organize it. Finally, we do the new text. It is an introduction to the new story, where I would model some difficult areas with your child and then have them begin their reading of it. This is all enveloped in a 30-minute solid structure. The program is intensive, lots of homework each night and a great deal of co-operation is required of your child as well, in order to get all their tasks completed in a full 30 minute class. It is vitally important that parents have their child do their homework each night, even on the weekend, as the program is intensive and must be followed. Your support is greatly appreciated by helping your child each night and ensuring their work is done in complete, signed and returned each day! Thank you and Good Luck to All the New Students!! :) Sincerely, Miss Ellison